08/15/2026
Where are we allowed to drive our On Highway Vehicles during the Off-Road Vehicle closure? There's a lot of misinformation floating about, or worse, a lot of partial information that leads to incorrect assumptions. We'll try to clear some of it up here (buckle up, it's a long read).
First, check the BC Wildfire Service website or app to see if there is an ORV closure in your region. Currently only the Southeast Fire Center, Kamloops Fire Centre, and parts of the Coastal and Cariboo Fire Centres are under BCWS restrictions (since they come up frequently: Kelowna and Vernon are INSIDE the Kamloops FC; Nanaimo and Ladysmith are OUTSIDE the affected South Island Zone; Prince George is OUTSIDE the affected 100 Mile Zone).
Second, check with local or regional authorities to see if any addition restrictions are in place. Many towns or regional districts will go beyond provincial rules. The BCWS map and app have a layer you can toggle titled "Local Authorities," which will show you who else may have jurisdiction (see screenshot below).
These rules do not apply on private land, but that doesn't mean private lands are wide open either; without permission from the landowners, you're trespassing.
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If you ARE IN or are planning to travel to the affected areas, ORV (off-road vehicle) use on crown land is prohibited for recreational use (does NOT apply to commercial use, including tour operations). ORVs in this context inclue ATVs, dirt bikes, and side-by-sides.
Licensed on-highway vehicles, including 4x4s, SUVs, and adventure bikes, are permitted on crown land but must remain on designated road surfaces, as defined in the Forest Planning and Practices Regulation (see https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/14_2004' and scroll down to "road").
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Kim Reeves spoke with BCWS to get clarity on what the intent of the ORV closure is. According to what he found:
"𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠. 𝐼 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑐𝑘𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜.
𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 4𝑥4 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑.
𝑊ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛; 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑?
𝐴 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑙𝑢𝑑𝑒𝑠 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑆𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠. 𝐵𝐶𝑊𝑆 𝑠𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐ℎ 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑦 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑛𝑜𝑛-𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑠 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠.
𝑊𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 40 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑎 𝑓𝑒𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑠, 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑗𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛. 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐻𝑎𝑙𝑒 𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑘, 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝐿𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐿𝑜𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑘𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑖𝑎 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑢𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑘!
𝑂𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑅𝑒𝑐 𝑆𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑇𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠 𝐵𝐶 ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑔𝑒. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚.
𝐴𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑓-𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑣𝑒ℎ𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 '𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑' 𝑜𝑟 𝑎 '𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙' 𝑖𝑛 𝐵𝐶 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 56 𝑜𝑟 57 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙. 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑂𝑅𝑉 𝑢𝑠𝑒. 𝐴𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 4𝑥4 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑖𝑠 𝐸𝑎𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛. 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑒𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 57 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝐹𝑆𝑅 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑑𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑛 𝐹𝑆𝑅. 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙 𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑒 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑓𝑓-𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑙.
𝐻𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑖𝑛 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑤 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢."
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We'll leave this post open on the main page if anyone has any questions, as the laws can be a bit confusing, but please refrain from "just stay home" type comments—all of BC is not burning, there is not a province-wide bush ban, there are lots of areas where wheeling (even ORVs) is still lawful and safe, and people are planning trips for later in the year after this is all over.
Please also leave out rants about what you consider the validity of these restrictions; they are not helpful to those seeking clarity, and this is not the time or the place.
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One particular question that has come up several times now is, "Does this apply to Whipsaw?" And therein lies the conundrum: Whipsaw is an old decommissioned FSR... so is it still considered a road under the regulation, or is it a trail?
As Kim mentions, RSTBC has not declared Lodestone and Wells Lake rec sites to be closed, which one expects they would be if Whipsaw was off-limits. We haven't been able to get a solid yes-or-no answer to this from BCWS or RSTBC, but the indication from BCWS is that they consider it a road. That should mean Whipsaw is allowed.
But here's the rub: you may go, and you may run into a CO who interprets it differently and receive an $1150 reminder of that. So that's a chance you take.
The local Tulameen & District Fire Department has also expressed concern over travellers on the Whipsaw, noting a new fire start at nearby Squakin Creek, which, given the extreme conditions, could quickly threaten the Whipsaw area... so you may want to take this into consideration if planning a Whipsaw trip as well. Remember that residents in all these areas are on edge, especially having watched what just happened in Summerland!
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If you feel better waiting until the restrictions are lifted before visiting any of these areas, that's perfectly understandable. If you do go, though, we'd like to remind you to take every possible precaution:
- Avoid driving through dry grass.
- Watch the trail behind you for signs of trouble.
- Be ready to evacuate at a moment's notice.
- Carry lots of water and a shovel, at the bare minimum (and ideally a fire extinguisher).
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
EDIT: Now Skwellepil is coming up regularly. Yes, you can go there. Stay on the roads, don't drive on the beach (that's not a road), pack out what you pack in, don't use the outhouses as garbage bins, and please don't block the boat ramp.
